Have your revenue cycle operations been hit by the ongoing, post-pandemic labor shortage? You’re not alone.
The Association of American Medical Colleges forecasts a shortfall of 1.1 million registered nurses by the end of 2022 and 122,000 physicians by 2032. Recent statistics also show a 35% turnover in healthcare assistance jobs. According to this data, the labor shortage crisis will worsen in the near future. Studies suggest that some contributing factors to this crisis are an ageing staff, lack of training and burnouts.
According to this data, the labor shortage crisis will worsen in the near future. Studies suggest that some contributing factors of this crisis include ageing staff, lack of training and burnouts.
Fortunately, businesses across industries have found ways to get work done through remote management/outsourcing. It is time for the healthcare industry to tap into remote revenue management. There may be some challenges associated with the shift, however the advantages are significant.
Are you ready to find out if it makes sense to address your labor shortage with remote RCM?
Is Remote Revenue Cycle Management the Right Choice for You?
Although RCM operations are not visible to your customers or everyone in your organization, it has a significant impact on patient experience and your business’ bottom line. For instance, a patient’s very first encounter with a healthcare provider involves registration/admission. However, they may end up having to deal with burned out RCM staff who are wearing multiple hats to cover the labor shortage. Similarly, hospitals also face a cashflow deficit when labor shortage affects functions across the revenue cycle.
As a healthcare service provider, you should re-think your RCM strategies. Now is the right time to shift to remote revenue management and deal with your labor shortages.
What Are the Benefits of Remote Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management?
Until a few years ago, healthcare businesses couldn’t even dream of shifting RCM operations online. Thanks to the growing demand for remote jobs, you can now hire remote staff and address the ongoing healthcare labor shortage. In addition, remote revenue cycle management also gives you the opportunity to improve workflow efficiency.
At the root of it, healthcare is about people helping one another. This means only one thing—human-to-human roles in healthcare will never cease to exist. For instance, teleconsultation will never replace the need for in-person interventions. Similarly, digital monitoring or home healthcare devices will not be able to substitute for in-person diagnosis.
We’ve already established that RCM operations can influence patient experience. That’s why your RCM staff must be empathetic—an obvious challenge if you’re facing a staff shortage. For example, if a patient is nervous about a scheduled procedure or has questions, your front-end staff can address their concerns. However, a lack of compassion may leave them feeling negative. This is where a remote RCM workforce can support your in-house team. The team can counsel the patient and ensure that he/she feels comfortable.
You can also use technology to take care of patient registration, eligibility verification and authorization, cost estimates, A/R, follow ups, denials and collections. Your remote healthcare revenue cycle management team will act as enablers for your in-house staff to deliver value-based patient care.
It may also help to look at some other industries to understand if going remote with business processes like RCM, makes sense. Consider the aviation industry for instance where travelers can remote check-in prior to their arrival and subsequently enjoy benefits like self-service kiosks, additional baggage allowance and much more.
Remote revenue cycle management can facilitate the same experience for your patients; being the people your patients speak to for priority appointments, checkups, financial counseling and so on.
Run a cross-functional analysis and identify what gaps you need to fill to integrate remote RCM into your business. HelioNext is a business process outsourcing provider with extensive experience working with a variety of healthcare practices. Our comprehensive and customizable RCM solutions will help you achieve scale, reduce costs, address labor shortage, improve efficiency and enhance customer experience.
Get in touch to know more about revenue cycle outsourcing.